Manufacturers have long pushed us into a society where buying new stuff is easy, and fixing the stuff we already have is harder than it should be.

But what happens when getting new stuff isn’t easy anymore?

On April 2, the Trump administration announced expansive new tariffs, including a baseline 10% tariff on all foreign imports and higher tariffs on many countries. While many of these tariffs were subsequently paused or limited, those that remain in place will make it more expensive for companies to import goods to America, with some of that cost passed on to consumers. This has already led to complications with certain product releases, including Nintendo delaying preorders for its highly-anticipated Switch 2 video game console in the United States.

When the international supply chain is disrupted, being able to fix the things we own becomes more important. Fortunately, we’re making progress on establishing a right to repair in states across the U.S., which would force manufacturers to give everyone access to the information, parts and tools needed to fix our stuff.

COVID supply chain disruptions also highlighted the need for repair

As iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens wrote at the time, pandemic-related supply chain disruptions underscored the need for a right to repair.  Supply shocks impacted repair technicians too – Wiens had trouble sourcing the parts he gets from China. But the effect on new products was even more pronounced, Wiens noted, since “the supply chain for a battery is vastly simpler than it is for an entire phone. And you can always cannibalize parts from other phones.”

It’s unclear what tariffs will ultimately end up being placed on consumer electronics such as phones this time around. The Trump administration has signaled that a  tariff exemption for electronics could be revoked depending on the status of negotiations. Because electronics are typically produced overseas, any tariffs that do hold up will have big market impacts.

Take iPhones: while Apple made gestures in the early 2010s at onshoring manufacturing, since 2013 they haven’t moved production of a single major product to the US, instead increasing production in India and Vietnam while keeping most of it in China. If the new tariffs hold, imports from these countries will face 26%, 46% and 34% tariffs, respectively. After the tariffs were announced, Apple’s stock dropped 8.8% in a single day, a reflection of how higher iPhone prices will lead more people to hold onto their old phones for longer. Even the Wall Street Journal is recommending you make your old iPhone “last as long as it can.”

Right to Repair can help

Fortunately, Right to Repair laws are making it easier for people to keep all sorts of devices going for longer. In recent years, New York, Colorado, Minnesota, California and Oregon have all passed Right to Repair laws covering consumer electronics. Oregon broke new ground in its law by restricting the use of “parts pairing” software to prevent unauthorized third-party repairs, compelling Apple to limit this practice.

Cars are another example of the importance of a right to repair amid trade uncertainty. On March 27, the Trump administration announced 25% tariffs on imported cars. Economists have estimated that the average price of one of these cars could jump by $12,500 – and new cars already cost around $49,000 on average. Fortunately, action at the state level has made it easier to get your old car fixed. A 2012 Massachusetts ballot initiative requiring automakers to make repair diagnostic information available to independent repair shops led automakers to adopt this as a national standard. Massachusetts and Maine have subsequently passed laws to expand these protections to cars that share repair information wirelessly.

As the new tariffs go into effect, we should expand the right to repair at the state and federal level. Let’s make it easier for people to keep their stuff for longer instead of paying higher prices for repairable goods.